A Vehicon's Worth
by Dragonlver22
Summary: [Being Re-Written] After the death of Cybertron, many Decepticons blamed their leader and tried to rebel against him, but they did not succeed. Despite some escaping, most rebels were captured and locked up for their treachery. As punishment, Megatron forced them to wear masks that hid the truth from all but four mechs. Now they are slaves to the mech who once promised freedom.
1. Prologue

_I remember when I first entered this world, I immediately_ despised it _._

 _My earliest memories have long since been replaced, for I do not recall how I became a gladiator. Though I'll admit, I wasn't the best that the arena had to offer. I think the strongest mech was Soundwave, but then he got defeated by a cybertronian who designated himself after one of the Thirteen Original Primes, Megatronous. I was nowhere near their level of strength, but I somehow managed to still be useful to my owner._

 _Yeah, I was owned. So was my twin, Rotorblade. We were owned by the same idiot, but at least we had each other. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have him. Probably with the Allspark. Wouldn't that be nice? To finally be free from this war, not having to constantly watch your back in fear of being offlined._

 _I'm getting distracted._

 _True, life wasn't the greatest for my twin and I. We were constantly thrown into the arena, not knowing for certain if we would ever walk out. We had a couple close calls but managed to pull through._

 _ _Others would assume my brother and I to have the exact same weaknesses and strengths because we're twins, however, the opposite is the case._ Our owner wanted diversity among the gladiators he owned, so he could gain an advantage over those who bid against him. He ordered for our armor, weapons, and training to be different, so while my brother was able to _take _more hits, I was able to_ _inflict_ _more._

 _My brother and I were also our owner's bodyguards whenever we weren't fighting, such as when he went to meet with other dealers._

 _Our owner was a greedy mech, so whenever we didn't get him enough credits, we'd pay the price._

 _Literally._

 _Whatever we earned that night, he would take a portion of it._

 _Rotorblade and I were miserable. Every Gladiator was. After all, we were in the lowest class of the Caste System._

 _We all wanted freedom so badly, so imagine our surprise when the strongest gladiator, Megatronous, gave a speech about his opinions on the Caste system. He claimed that the council was corrupt, and thus went to confront them. He was accompanied by an Iacon clerk whose designation was Orion Pax._

 _I don't know what happened inside, but next thing I knew, Megatronous, now Megatron, started a revolution for our rights, with Soundwave as his Second in Command. It was an opportunity to be free from our cruel owner, so we did not hesitate to join Megatron and his ever-growing followers._

 _But not all agreed with us._

 _Soon enough, a war erupted on Cybertron. All the fighting poisoned our planet, and the Iacon clerk, who had since gone separate ways from Megatron, traveled to its core and attempted to heal it. When he got there, Primus himself gave him the Matrix of Leadership, turning Orion Pax into Optimus Prime. He became the last of the Primes and Megatron's sworn enemy._

 _At that point, Cybertronians were officially divided into two factions: the Decepticons and the Autobots._

 _Then, the unthinkable happened._

 _We lost Cybertron, our_ home _._

 _Here is when Rotorblade and I started doubting our choice in following Megatron, as were many others. In order to silence our questioning of his leadership, he ordered for our punishment. Rotorblade and I tried to escape with a few_ _others but were soon caught._

 _They changed all of us into copies of one another, no longer unique individuals. They stripped us of our identities and forced us to constantly wear a mask. We were not allowed to keep our original designations as they were replaced by mere_ numbers and symbols _._

 _Even though we were twins, Rotorblade and I had never looked so much alike until that very moment. The only difference was that he was a grounder while I was a flyer, which also meant that we were separated most of the time. Never the less, our twin bond remained strong as we kept looking out for each other's back._

 _There was no resistance from us vehicons after that, Lord Megatron made sure of it._

 _I went from being a lowly gladiator to a freedom fighter and then to a simple_ drone _in such a short amount of time._

 _I miss my home and I want so badly for it to go back to the way it was. At this point, I could care less if that meant being a gladiator again, at least we would've had our planet back._

 _I often wish I could return to the life of Avian, the kin of Rotorblade and a gladiator in the Pits of Kaon._

 _But that is just a wish. A foolish wish._

 _I am not Avian the gladiator._

 _I am 64L-3N the vehicon, soldier of the Decepticons, servant of Lord Megatron, and an enemy of the Autobots._


	2. Chapter 1

I winced with pain.

"Quit squirming, I'm almost done." Knockout scolded me while he welded a deep cut across my chassis.

"There, finished. Now scram, I've got a long line waiting. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can start studying that energon." The doctor mumbled the last part to himself. I left without a word, glancing at the other vehicons outside the doctor's office.

We had just come back from another confrontation with the Autobots, or more specifically _their medic_. I believe his designation was Ratchet? Rumor has it that he thought he could fight Megatron. I mentally scoffed at the thought of our leader getting beat by an old medic. I've only seen two mechs able to go toe-to-toe with Megatron: Optimus Prime and Soundwave. You'd think that, as a former Second in Command, Starscream would be able to stand up to Megatron as well.

Yeah right.

The seeker's a coward and begs for mercy instead of fighting back. We've all seen it at least once. Starscream gets Lord Megatron angry and then whines like the sparking he is. It's not like I could say that to his faceplates though. Being a vehicon, I'd probably get blasted and no 'bot would care.

Well... that's not true. Only the higher ups don't care. The vehicons on the other servo? They'd probably scold me for saying something like that to the mech, but only because they were worried. The higher ups don't know this, but we vehicons treat one another like - uh - what was that term the flesh bags used? 'Family' I think it was. Yeah, we were like one large family. Whenever one of us was offlined, we'd mourn and provide the best burial we could for them. I don't know how it hasn't been brought up yet during the meetings the higher ups have. We thought that Soundwave would have discovered what we did with the husks of our fallen comrades. Either he doesn't know or he just doesn't care enough to inform Megatron. The latter being the most likely.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even realize I had ended up in the energon refuel room. I went over to grab a cube, taking notice of the other three Vehicons here. What surprised me most, however, was seeing Lord Megatron here, along with Soundwave and Arachnid. They were discussing something, until Megatron kneeled suddenly, clutching his helm in the process. _'Is he in pain?'_ I shook my head and quickly joined the other vehicons with helping our master to his pedes, only to get shoved away.

"Get off of me!" Megatron growled in protest. We took a step back, but I was more preoccupied with Megatron's optic color. Usually, his optics are red, but for some reason, they seemed to be purple. I wasn't the only one who saw that, right?

They returned to normal as swiftly as they came.

"Lord Megatron?" The new Second in Command, Arachnid, questioned with false worry.

Megatron glanced at us vehicons. "Let us continue our talk elsewhere," was the only response the mech gave. The warlord and his commanding officers left the room, leaving us Vehicons confused.

"What was that about?" P12-24 slid up his visor us as he broke the awkward silence between us remaining four in the room.

We too slid up our masks, since we were the only ones in the room. It was considered disobedience if we did so in front of the higher-ups, however. Our faceplates were the only thing Megatron allowed us to keep, and we were thankful for it.

"It seemed like Lord Megatron was in pain." Another, designated M4R–14, replied curiously. When we had tried to escape, we mechs prioritized the safety of the femmes and sparklings. M4R-14 was one of the few that didn't make it.

"Well no duh." 5C0–TT crossed his arms in a huff, receiving a glare from the femme, to which he replied with a smirk.

"Well did you guys see his optics? Or was that obvious _too_?" P12-24 asked the group, though that last part was more aimed towards 5C0–TT than M4R–14 and I.

" _No_." 5C0–TT paused. "Was something wrong with them?" His tone held annoyance towards the other mech.

"Yeah, they were purple. And not just any shade of purple, I mean 'Dark Energon' shade of purple." M4R-14's words confirmed to me that I wasn't just seeing things.

"Well, he _did_ stab himself with a Dark Energon crystal."

" _Yeah_ , but his optics were always red, even after that."

5C0–TT scoffed at the femme. "Does it really matter?" He received a smack to his helm.

"Of course it does, you idiot!" The femme snarled at him.

"No it _doesn't_ ," 5C0–TT paused to rub the new dent in his helm while P12-24 snickered. "Galen, back me up here!" He looked at me.

When we had discovered that our labels were similar to that of human names, or objects or other things, we found it easier to refer to each other as such instead of saying each individual letter or number. Yet the same rule applies to our names as it does with our masks. We never refer to our made up designations while in the presence of the higher-ups.

"Actually," I walked over to the femme, "I agree with Maria on this one."

"Oh come on!" 5C0–TT threw his servos into the air, accompanied by laughter from P12-24 and M4R-14.

We finished our discussion over our cubes of energon, occasionally others would join in, and then we went to complete whatever duties were assigned to us. I was happy though, as I had been assigned to guard a mine where my brother, D4R-3K, was. We weren't able to interact often due to me being a flyer while he was a grounder. Luckily, we were given the same recharge schedule, so we had some time to talk to each other.

I reached the group of vehicons I was to be bridged with. As soon as we were all here, Lieutenant Soundwave opened a vortex and we marched through. I entered the mine and immediately scanned the cave for my brother.

I spotted him, not too far from my current position either. He was talking with a miner, who was cutting through a large energon crystal when I walked over. He looked up at me and I immediately felt relief wash over me through our twin bond. He lightly jabbed my arm.

"By the AllSpark, Galen, you scared the slag out of me." He was a lot more talkative and social than I. "I couldn't believe my audio receivers when I was told the Autobot _medic_ attacked you. Their _medic_!"

"Trust me, brother, I thought my optics were playing tricks on me when I _saw_ _it_."

He chuckled softly before returning to his patrol cycle.

I started patrolling around as well, sometimes greeting other vehicons, but I never strayed too far from my brother. We always wanted to be close enough to aid the other should something happen.

Primus smiled down upon us that day because, fortunately, nothing happened.

No Autobots attacked our mine or _any_ mine as a matter of fact. I guess after having their medic nearly offlined, not to mention gaining a lot of energon, they aren't too eager to attack us again.

It's not like I'm complaining though.

The following three Earth days were the most peaceful three days that we've had for a long time. With no fights between Autobots and Decepticons, us vehicons got a _long_ overdue break, and we relished every second of it.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I want to thank** Secret1618 **and** DaLadyofSouls **for their comments on the first chapter. I'm really glad you guys enjoyed it.**

 **I'm still debating many important aspects of this story, such as the vehicons and where I want this story to go, so I may end up rewriting at least a few chapters if not the whole story at some point in the future. I'm also kinda writing a few other stories at the same time because my mind is currently spewing ideas like a fountain, and I want to write them all down before I forget them.**

 **Also, school started up again for me... *sarcasm* yippee... So chapter posting will be very slow** **, so just a heads up for those who want to see more of this story.**

 **(And yes, the vehicon's names were Scott, Maria, and Pizza, if you couldn't guess. Believe me when I say that I have a lot of fun coming up with these names.)**


	3. Chapter 2

**(A/N)**

 **Okay, so, for those who aren't reading my other story, _Son of Unicron_ , you should know that I've come up with a schedule for posting new chapter updates. Basically, I will post a chapter for my _Transformer Prime_ stories every weekend but the story that will be updated is rotated. Simply put, this weekend I will post a chapter for _A Vehicon's Worth_ and next weekend I will post _Son of Unicron_ , and then the following weekend will be _A Vehicon's Worth_ , then _Son of Unicron_ , then ****_A Vehicon's Worth,_** **etc.**

 **Responses:**

 **Secret (Guest)- Don't worry, Steve will appear in the story. Afterall, what's a vehicon fanfic without him? But he won't be one of the main characters, he won't be a background character either, he'll just be somewhere in between. At least, that's what I plan for. Actually, he's in this very chapter.**

* * *

Unfortunately, the peace didn't last as long as we hoped. By the end of the week, the Autobots were repaired and refueled. Although, they have been extremely active as of late; more so than usual. Yet, this might be due to the fact that a planetary alignment is upon us, one that has been predicted by the ancients.

Although, we vehicons are technically not supposed to know of this prophecy. The only reason why we do is that we vehicons have developed a habit of… eavesdropping on the higher-ups. This included any meetings. The vehicons who were guarding the room, that the higher-ups were having their meeting in, overheard our master recite the ancient prophecy. This 'prophecy' has scared quite a few vehicons, especially the part about the weak not surviving the upcoming disaster. Due to our flimsy armor, many have speculated that this will be the end for most, if not all, vehicons.

However, there are also those who don't believe the prophecy to be true at all. My brother, D4R-3K, is one such vehicon. He doesn't believe most of the words that come from Lord Megatron, so this prophecy is no exception. Although, as the planetary alignment, that the prophecy speaks of, grows nearer, I can see him slowly beginning to doubt his own words.

Regardless of how many believe him or not, our Lord and Master still plans to see this prophecy through to the end. According to the guards who overheard the meeting, Lord Megatron wants to speed up the construction of the Space Bridge so that we can prepare for the arrival of massive amounts of dark energon. He put his plan into motion by retracting vehicons from the mines and sending us as retrieval groups for the components required. My brother was sent along with a few others to fetch the last of these components, however, the Autobots interfered.

In order to assure victory for the Decepticons, our Master originally sent a squadron of eight flyers to accompany and protect the retrieval group, me being one of them.

My squadron and I were flying through the air while waiting for D4R-3K and the others to bring the component into the open so that we may bridge out of here. Unfortunately, that will have to come after we engage the Autobots.

Circling back around, my squadron and I began to open fire on the Prime and his followers. The Prime raised his blaster and fired in our direction. With a spin, I managed to dodge the blast, however, the flyer behind me was not as lucky and received the hit. I winced at his cry of pain as he left my peripheral vision and begun his rapid descent to the ground.

Now with only seven left, we flew down and transformed into our bipedal modes to continue our assault. However, instead of running forward with the others, I let paranoia get the better of me and I stayed behind to cover the retrieval team, now that they were out in the open.

Even though they were outnumbered, the Autobots rapidly cut and blasted through the others. The blue femme, Arcee, beheaded M4R-10 before my very optics and charged at me without hesitation. I hardly had any time to think, so instead, I let my instincts take control.

I dodged her blade by moving to the side and delivered a knee to her smaller frame. She was slightly caught off guard and I tried to use that to my advantage, but she managed to dodge my punch. Acting quickly, she performed an uppercut to my visor and chipped a piece at the bottom off. I brought up my servos to guard my helm and braced for an attack that never came. Hearing the femme grunt in pain, I lowered my servos to find my twin attacking the Autobot.

 _"Are you just gonna stand there or help me?"_ He asked through the bond as he threw a punch at the Autobot.

Arcee jumped up to avoid D4R-3K's punch before landing on top of it. She pushed off of his arm, she leaped and flipped over my twin. She landed behind him and prepared to turn and slice through him, however, I knew of her plan and placed my frame between them both. I felt a searing pain as her blades sliced through my armor and protoform. I let out an agonized howl and knelt down, clutching my now severed arm. Multiple warnings popped up in my HUD but I pushed them aside and forced myself to focus on the enemy.

"Galen, fallback to the others!" My twin shouted before throwing another punch at the Autobot, this time making sure not to miss.

Although I didn't want to leave him to fight her alone, I knew that I'd only be a burden rather than help. Gritting my denta, I pushed up on my pedes and retreated to where the only two remaining vehicons guarded the component. Now that I was at a safe distance, D4R-3K dodged another hit from Arcee before backing up to where we were. The four of us deployed our blasters and aimed at the Autobots, who prepared to terminate us.

However, before we could fire, the distinct sound of a cybertronian jet thundered behind us. It was then followed by the sound of plates shifting before a silver blur landed before us, crushing the concrete and sending up a cloud of dust in the process.

"Optimus," Lord Megatron said, standing up to his full height.

With the Autobots' attention on our Master, D4R-3K slightly turned to me while still keeping an optic on the enemy. Using my servo, I cupped the ripped joint of my elbow articulator in an attempt to slow the amount of energon flowing out.

"I'm going to kill you if you offline on me, Galen." D4R-3K threatened in a whisper so that Lord Megatron and the Autobots couldn't hear. Despite the venom in his words, I knew that he was just worried.

 **"ARRRGH!"** I heard someone whirl and I looked up to discover that the Autobots' scout had arrived. When he raised his blasters, my twin and the other two vehicons, V3N-U5 and P3R-RY, began to power up their own but ceased when our master raised his servo. Even though I couldn't see his faceplates, I was certain that Lord Megatron was grinning.

"Ratchet," The Prime called. "Bridge us back now!" A moment after his order, a ground bridge opened up behind them. "Bumblebee, return with Arcee and Rafael." The youngling looked like he was about to protest but the Autobot that severed my arm cut him off by guiding him into the vortex.

The sand at my pedes began to swirl and fly up around us from the abrupt change in air currents. I looked up and watched as the Nemesis hovered above us and lowered the energon transport, or the 'Tube', as some vehicons would call it.

The sound of heavy pedes brought my attention back. We vehicons stepped aside to allow our master to step onto the ET. I removed my servo from my wound so that Lord Megatron wouldn't see. While one may think that to show him such a wound would show weakness, it is when one hides the wound that they show weakness. So ignoring the warnings flashing across my HUD and the throbbing pain in what is left of my elbow articulator, I stood tall as we ascended swiftly to the warship.

Once we arrived on the ship, Lord Megatron ordered the two vehicons in the room to help us take the final component to the storage room. As soon as he left, I collapsed to one knee and clutched what was left of my arm. D4R-3K immediately rushed to my side.

"That looks really bad," 5T3-V3 said. "I'd get him to Knockout quick." My twin glanced at the human technology in the room. "Don't worry, we can handle it."

"Thanks, guys," D4R-3K said before helping me up and walking with me to the medical wing. When we got there, we found Breakdown and Knockout in the middle of a conversation.

"I still can't understand how you could possibly find her attract -" Knockout cut himself off when he noticed us standing in the doorway. He stared at me for a moment, surprise evident in his expression. "I must admit, I didn't think any of you were actually going to survive." Shaking his helm, the red mech moved over to a berth and began to set it up. "Lay him here."

My brother did as instructed and Breakdown went into the back room, only to come out a moment later with a new arm and visor.

"Breakdown, could you…?"

"Got it, Doc." The mech responded before leading my twin over to another berth, where his dents were to be popped out and his scratches buffed. At one point, he had to take his visor off so that the large dent in it (from the femme no doubt) could be popped out. Meanwhile, Knockout had an energon tube running into the upper half of my arm.

"I'm going to turn off your pain receptors." He told me, although I doubt it was a warning. While he attached the new arm to me, I watched as Breakdown began a quiet conversation with D4R-3K. "I'll need you to remove your visor." Knockout said to me. I reached up with my good servo and pressed the latches on the side of the visor. With a _click_ and a _hiss_ , it came free and I let the cool air wash upon my faceplates.

After my optics adjusted, I noticed Knockout studying my faceplates. "Four optics, huh? Don't see that very often nowadays." The red mech's comment drew the attention of Breakdown and D4R-3K.

"Wait, both of you have four optics?" The blue mech asked as he glanced between my twin and I. "Hm, you two look almost exactly the same. Twin-sparks?" He asked.

D4R-3K looked at me for a moment before nodding at Breakdown. "Yes, Sir."

I was worried that they would inquire further, but luckily, the medic and his assistant weren't that curious.

Due to my injuries being more severe, D4R-3K was done before me. He gave his designation for the medical records and left to get a refuel of energon. Unfortunately, I still had to stay in the medical ward for another hour or two so that Knockout could finish working on attaching my new arm. However, right after my twin left, a message appeared in my HUD that the Prime was aboard the ship.

"Scrap," I heard Knockout mutter to himself. I presume he got the message as well. "Looks like I'm going to have to postpone -,"

"Hear me!" Lord Megatron's voice thundered throughout the warship, interrupting the red medic. "Any who lays a servo on Optimus Prime will have to answer to me." He warned before ordering Lieutenant Soundwave to open a ground bridge for the Prime. Not even a minute passed before damaged vehicons were pouring in, making the medbay extremely cramped. At one point Knockout had to order some patients to remain outside so that he, Breakdown, and the MedCons (vehicons trained specifically for medical purposes) could move swiftly between patients. When I didn't see my twin amongst the battered frames, I decided to contact him through the bond.

 _"Darek? Are you alright?_ " I asked.

 _"Oh, so you_ do _care about me."_ He chuckled. _"Yeah, I'm fine. I managed to avoid the Autobot, though these poor sparks didn't. By the Pit… and he calls himself a Prime."_

 _"He_ is _a Prime, though. He has the Matrix of Leadership."_

 _"Galen, you already know my opinions on the mech, so don't argue with me."_

Indeed I did know. So did every other vehicon as a matter of fact, but not because D4R-3K was popular. Actually, it was the opinion _itself_ that was popular.

Every vehicon despises the Prime either due to personal reasons or something else entirely. Furthermore, half of the vehicons find the Prime to be unworthy of the title while the other half believes that he's not worthy _and_ is _pretending_ to be a Prime. My brother and I fit into the former category.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed vehicons beginning to shuffle out of the room in a hurry.

 _"What's going on?"_

 _"Were you spacing out again?"_ When I didn't reply, I felt a small ping of annoyance come from him. _"Megatron just ordered all able vehicons to report to the mining docs. Don't ask me why cause I ain't there yet."_

 _"Well keep me updated, alright? It's gonna be boring sitting on my aft for the next few hours."_

 _"Aye, aye, Captain."_ D4R-3K snickered and I rolled my optics beneath my visor. I continued to sit quietly while I watched the medical staff move from vehicon to vehicon. I took note of which mechs weren't saved on time.

Letting out a vent, I leaned my helm back on the metal berth and stared at the ceiling. _'Maybe I should just fall into recharge. Knockout's going to be busy for a while, so might as well -'_ My thoughts were cut off by the sound of heavy pedesteps echoing outside the Med Bay; pedesteps that every vehicon - no - every _Decepticon_ knew.

The Med Bay doors slid open to reveal the silver frame of Lord Megatron.

"Ugh, what is it now - _Ah!_ " Knockout exclaimed once he saw who he almost mouthed off to. "M-My liege! Uh… what brings you here?"

"What do you think, Doctor?" Our Master asked.

"Oh... right." Knockout muttered before abandoning his current patient and following Lord Megatron to a medical berth across from mine. I noticed how all the vehicons in the room were trying their best to avoid staring at our Master or his… purple energon.

 _"Darek,"_ I started. _"Megatron is here, in the Med Bay but he's leaking_ dark _energon."_ I didn't hear a response from him. I tried to call for him again until I realized that I couldn't contact him because he was too far.

The feeling of someone watching me distracted me from my brother. I turned to find my Master glaring at me, his purple optics narrowed. I was confused as to why until I noticed a vehicon behind him gesturing to her visor.

'Slag.'

"M-my sincerest apologies, Lord Megatron," I said as I quickly reached for my broken visor, as the new one still needed to be synced with my helm, and clicked it into place. My master stared at me for another moment before turning back to the medic, who I could tell wanted to say something but chose not to. Probably for the best. However, my processor was not on the medic, but on Megatron. _'He saw my faceplates… By the Allspark, he saw my faceplates…'_ The words repeated in my helm as I tried not to stare at the former champion of the Pits of Kaon. _'I pray to Primus that he didn't recognize me…'_

I needed to warn D4R-3K as soon as possible. I can only hope that I didn't just blow our cover.

* * *

 **For those who might think that Arcee wouldn't have struggled as much when it came to her fighting Galen and Darek, I can only slightly agree with you. Arcee was mostly caught off guard by the sudden change in strategy from Galen, and while his armor may be weaker, he still has the fighting experience of a gladiator. Plus, Darek is the same so having them both attacking her would have slowed Arcee down but not kill her. I hope that clears some things up.**

 **Also, please don't be afraid to tell me if you think that any characters (both canon or made up) are becoming Overly Powered or Out of Character.**

 ** _Oh, and final note (I promise this is the last one) what do you think of the new summary? I felt like changing it to make people more interested in the story. Please tell me what you think of it!_**

 **Anyway, have a good night (or day... or afternoon... or pizza... or whatever)**


	4. Chapter 3

**(A/N)**

 **Hey, look! A chapter! Yeah, just saying, school work is starting to finally catch up to me but I'm still determined to stick with the schedule. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't very action-packed but I think that it's informative. It'll hopefully give you guys more of an incite as to what vehicon life is like.**

 **Also, can I just say that it's funny to see how inconsistent the view counts are on the chapters? It says 18 people read the prologue, 8 read the first chapter, and 23 read the second chapter. I don't know why I just find that funny.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and I'll see ya later!**

* * *

Knockout didn't take long with Lord Megatron's repairs and was able to finish up my own a few hours after. Fortunately, my brother was finished with his own tasks for the orn. I immediately told him of what transpired in the Med Bay and we both agreed to try not to receive any medic-worthy injuries for a few weeks.

Shortly after our mutual agreement, word about Lord Megatron leaving to defeat Unicron spread like wildfire, as the human saying goes. According to the vehicons in the control room, our master mentioned something about requiring the power of a Prime.

No mech really knew exactly what that meant, but the most popular opinion was that Lord Megatron is calling a temporary truce with the Autobots, or at least the Prime so that he can defeat Unicron. Now, while I don't really care much for the ideals of our master, apparently Commander Arachnid does. At least, that's why I think she has called a meeting for nearly every mech and femme on the warship.

I was currently on my way there now with my brother, however, we arrived as one of the last vehicons and therefore the only spots left were the ones on the same floor as the higher-ups.

"Slag," D4R-3K muttered. _Slag indeed_.

Being on the same level as the higher-ups during a crew announcement meant that there was a likely chance of a commander using you as a stress or anger reliever. Sadly, it's not that uncommon for vehicons to offline this way. I just hope that it doesn't happen during this meeting. Probably won't since both Starscream and Lord Megatron aren't here. Although... I'm not really sure how Commander Arachnid handles her stress.

I quickly reset my optics. _Speak of the Devil and he shall appear_. I recited to myself as Arachnid walks up to the long platform, in the center of the room, in all her 'glory'. When she reached where Lieutenant Soundwave was typing on the monitors, she stopped and spun on her heel to face us.

"Fellow Decepticons!" She addressed, a smirk plastered on her faceplates. "While our loyalty to Megatron has always remained steadfast -"

 _"She means those who_ aren't _designated Arachnid or Starscream,"_ My twin blurted through the bond.

"- our leader's recent behavior has been questionable at best... and it would seem Earth has become nothing short of a failed experiment." She said, referring to the monitors behind her, which displayed multiple images of the destruction done to the planet.

"Commander Arachnid," Knockout, who stood next to Breakdown on the 'catwalk', began. "You're not suggesting that we _abandon_ Lord Megatron?"

She turned to the TIC at the monitors, who hadn't yet made any acknowledgment of her words. "Despite Soundwave's best efforts, we have been unable to detect our Master's signal." She informed. "He is either offline or in the thrall of Unicron. Neither is in the Decepticon's best interest. So I am deeming an exodus to be the most prudent course of action..." She turned to look at the vehicon soldiers below her. "Unless anyone has a problem with that."

A single vehicon raised his servo. "With all due respect, Commander Arachnid, where would we go? Earth is rich with energon and our scanners cannot seem to pick up any planets that present the same amount of resources."

 _"Whelp, there goes another promising drinking buddy,"_ D4R-3K sarcastically whined.

 _"Since when were vehicons allowed drinking privileges in the first place?"_ I inquired

I could tell that he was trying to withhold a chuckle. _"Touche."_ He replied, but I decided not to ask what 'touche' meant.

Arachnid, however, seemed slightly surprised at the vehicon's words. "A... fair question." She began. "While that may be true, that does not mean that the other planets have a lack of energon. Which is why we will be heading for Regulon Four. Any other questions? No?" I saw Soundwave freeze at the monitor before finally turning towards the femme.

 _"Uh oh..."_ My brother said quietly.

Arachnid, completely oblivious to the silent mech approaching her, smirked when no other vehicons spoke up. She quickly spun around, grinning in triumph."Then let us set course!"

Her grin was wiped off her face when Soundwave stood formidably before her, straightening his back struts in a threatening manner.

"Do you have something to say, Soundwave?" She inquired but received no answer. Soundwave merely stood taller, the light reflecting boldly off of his armor. "I am the Commander of this vessel," She transformed so that her spider legs supported her, "you will obey and return to your post." He didn't move. "This is your last warning: Step. _Aside_."

No movement.

 _"Ha! The glitch thinks she can actually take on Soundwave? I bet my daily energon ration that she won't last thirty seconds."_ D4R-3K swore, and not a second later did I begin my internal stopwatch.

Arachnid leaped at Soundwave, who merely brought up his arms to block against every stab she tried to inflict. Her slight shock caused her to momentarily hesitate in her attacks, but it was all that the former gladiator needed. He thrust his servo forward and gripped her neck cables as he lifted her off of the ground. She tried to stab him multiple times, but his arm was longer than any of her legs, so her attempts were met with failure. He glared, or at least the best glare he could give with his visor, before rearing back his arm and throwing her across the catwalk, behind Knockout and Breakdown.

The medic and his assistant stepped aside to allow Soundwave to walk up to the battered femme, but not before silently detaching Laserbeak from his chassis.

"I'll tear out your spark for that!" Arachnid swore before getting shot in the back by the flying symbiote. She was slung forward and landed at Soundwave's pedes. Before she could recover, his pede pinned her down to the ground, resulting in a pained groan escaping her vocalizer. "I... yield."

Knockout snickered quietly. "Watch out for the quiet ones..." He murmured to Breakdown, who simply nodded.

The spymaster retreated his pede and turned to walk back to the main consoles. The two grounders quickly moved out of his way, not wanting to risk getting beat up, I reckon. Knockout and Breakdown glanced at each other before turning to Arachnid, who could hardly move. Breakdown picked her up and followed the flamboyant medic out the doors and to the Med Bay.

The remaining vehicons in the room glanced between one another before we all wordlessly decided to return to our duties. I walked with my brother back to the barracks, as it was our recharge period.

"29 seconds," I said to him, which earned me a laugh from his vocalizer.

"Told ya so."

"I never said I doubted you... or even agreed to your 'bet'," I smirked beneath my visor.

We continued our light conversation until we reached the barracks, where other vehicons were either recharging or talking softly in small groups. In the vehicon barracks, we were allowed to leave our visors off freely, as the higher-ups never came in here anyway. So, the faceplates of all the mechs and femmes in the room were exposed without hesitation.

While the most common type of faceplate was one with a smooth surface and two optics, we vehicons had a large variety of types among us. The number of optics ranged from one to nine and the colors of said optics came in green, yellow, red, pink, orange, or sometimes even combinations. Some vehicons had multiple mouths, instead of just the one, that bared sharp denta, dull denta or both. There were also multi-colored faceplates, scarred faceplates, or even no faceplates at all.

We also had different sizes. While most of us are the average size of cybertronian, some of us are taller or shorter. In D4R-3K and I's case, we are taller than the average mech. In fact, we're even taller than Breakdown. I'm not sure if we're the _tallest_ vehicons, but I know we're defiantly not the shortest. The title of shortest vehicon belongs to 71R-90, also known as 'Virgo'. A feisty little femme, that one.

My brother joined with some others but I decided to go to recharge instead so that my systems could finally rest from the recent... physical strain they went through.

I walked to an empty space, between two vehicon jets, that was far enough from the others so that I could hardly hear them. I transformed into my alt mode, as we vehicons aren't provided with berths, and shut down my systems one by one. The world around me went dark as I forced myself to relax and fall into a deep recharge.


	5. Chapter 4

**...**

 **Yeah... I don't really know what to say. I went through a writer's block but not in the sense that I didn't want to continue the story, but that I didn't know** ** _how_** **to continue. See, I have major plot points that not only do I not know what order I want them in but how to connect them in a way that won't rush the overall story.**

 **I'm also thinking about switching the story to the 3rd person instead of 1st because I'm more comfortable writing in 3rd. I also have future plot points that would be difficult to explain or write if the entire story is from a single viewpoint. I did mention in the first chapter that I may end up rewriting the story, and changing POV falls under the list of reasons for why.**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter but just saying, the next one will probably have a change in perspective... and all these previous ones as well.**

* * *

My systems slowly onlined when my internal clock went off. My vision turned from a black void to the red tint of my visor. I knew that it was almost time for my shift, so I forced myself to wake all the way. I did a quick scan of my surroundings before I transformed and tiredly stretched my sore joints. My internal scanners told me that nothing was out of place or missing. I vented in relief.

Sometimes other vehicons would play pranks by taking something from those recharging. It wasn't anything harmful, just things like armor plates, so when we'd wake we'd find our shoulder guard missing or something. I've woken with my visor missing once. I got it back, of course. The prankers only take such parts for the reaction before giving it back. After all, a higher-up wouldn't ignore an unequipped vehicon lurking the halls.

I continued to make my way through the multitude of recharging alt modes of vehicons, careful not to step or bump into anyone. When I exited the recharging section, I entered what is basically the lounge, if you call a few crates and metal slabs as chairs and tables. Other vehicons greeted me briefly and I nodded in return before moving past them and leaving the barracks.

 _"Morning, Galen."_ D4R-3K sounded through the bond _. "You missed a few things in your recharge."_

This piped my interest as I made my way to the Refuel room. _"And what would those be?"_

 _"Well for one, the Prime is on board."_

I came to a sudden halt. _"...I'm sorry,_ what _?"_

 _"You know... the big blue, red, and silver 'Bot."_

 _"Alright you aft,"_ he sent waves of amusement through the bond, _"let me rephrase that._ How _did the Prime get on board? Did we finally manage to capture him?"_

 _"Ehh... not quite. More like he_ joined _us. Yeah... I'm not exactly sure what happened but Prime seems to have lost his memory files and goes by Orion Pax again. I think I overheard someone mention that it had something to do with the Matrix of Leadership."_ He told me and I continued walking to the Energon Refuel room _. "Megatron gave us specific orders and rules regarding our new 'buddy'."_

True to his words, I checked my HUD and there was the data packet. I opened it and scanned the information inside as I finally reached the Refuel room. I picked up a cube and sat at an empty table as I finished reading it, drinking the energon in the process. Three notes stood out to me the most.

\- All vehicons assigned to guard the Energon Storage Vault have been tasked to guard Orion Pax's station as well. -  
\- He is to be under constant surveillance. -  
\- Any and all questions asked by Orion are to be responded with answers that will benefit the Decepticons cause. -

 _"Primus slaggit."_ I breathed to my brother, who sent more waves of amusement through the bond.

 _"So I guess you're a Sparksitter now."_ He teased.

I quickly downed the rest of energon before groaning in annoyance. I am not looking forward to my shift today... or any other days forward.

Although I will get sent out on missions, my main purpose on this Primus-forsaken ship is guarding the Energon Storage Vault, and according to the data packet, sparksitting the Prime as well.

I pushed myself up and went to drop off my empty cube before finally walking to my post. On the way there, I heard a familiar voice call my designation. I vented quietly as I stopped and turned around to see a slightly smaller vehicon running up to me. Once he caught up, I waited for his fans to cool him off a little before we both made our way towards our shift. His 'serial number' is CL1-73 while his name is simply Clive. He and 71R-60 are the youngest on the ship as they were among the generation last born from the Well of All Sparks. Due to this, they hang out with each other often.

"So, uh..." He reset his vocalizer. "I heard that you beat up the Autobot femme."

I glanced down at him. "I lost an arm, my visor chipped, and I got many other injuries. I also had the help of my brother. 'Beat up' is an overstatement."

"Still, she didn't slice you guys in half." CL1-73 pointed out.

I scoffed and continued walking. It's amazing how much rumors can bend the truth. Of course, I don't bother too much with them, but D4R-3K will sometimes tell me of the most interesting or just plain ridiculous ones. Strangely, many vehicons come up with rumors revolving the romantic life of not only Decepticon officers but Autobot ones as well. These kinds of rumors were recently given a name based off of the human's vocabulary. It's called 'shipping'. A few vehicons like to even get really dramatic about it just for fun. They'll say things like 'My ship has sailed!' or 'I ship it like FedEx!'.

... Don't ask me what 'FedEx' is.

"Do you think you could show me some moves?" CL1-73 asked rather excitedly.

I looked down at the younger mech with a questioning optics, even if he couldn't see it.

CL1-73's determination faltered slightly under my gaze, "Well, uh, ya see there's... someone I really want to protect and I kinda hoped that you could teach me something."

I didn't say anything and instead just looked back ahead of us. I know why he's asking me for lessons, and I would happily help him, but despite Soundwave not caring about what we do, he still keeps a close optic on us vehicons. My brother and I have no doubt that he would recognize gladiator moves if we performed them on the ship. So, we can't teach the others, even though it hurts to watch them die. I may not be as social as my brother, but I still care for them.

It wasn't long until we reached our station and once we got there, the two other guards nodded farewells and took off to share some energon, while CL1-73 and I shared some awkward silence. We stood on either side of the door and I scoped out where Orion Pax's room is. I also kept a mental note that the entrance was indented into the wall instead of being a part of the wall itself. On the other side of me, I noticed how CL1-73 made subtle glances in my direction. To ignore him, I contacted my brother, however, I felt his connection was quite far. I checked my ship Monitor and sure enough, we were currently orbiting the Earth.

Every vehicon has a ship monitor that was internally built into them when they were constructed. It allows for us to connect with the ship in a similar way as Soundwave. If there is an emergency on board it tells us where, as it is constantly updated with the ship's coordinates. It can also serve as a homing beacon of sorts.

The familiar _swoosh_ of doors opening alerted me once again to my surroundings. I inclined my head to the source of the noise and watched as the former Prime walked out of his station. He glanced down the other end of the hallway before looking at Cl1-73 and I. We tensed and straightened our posture, still unsure about how to treat Orion Pax.

"Excuse me," he said and I looked towards the blue and red mech who now stood right in front of me. I never noticed how tall he actually was until presently, yet I've never been this close to him so I'm not surprised.

"Yes, sir? Do you require something?" CL1-73 asked.

"Yes. I was wondering if one of you could help me find the Refuel room? It seems that I have yet to receive a map of the ship." He then did something that took me by surprise. He smiled slightly as if he found his statement to be amusing. Is Optimus Prime capable of smiling? Or perhaps it's just Orion Pax who can. Either way, it was unusual to be witness to such a thing. In fact, it's quite disturbing now that I look it.

"Of course, sir." I forced myself to say before the pause became obvious. "This way."

With a nod to CL1-73, I led the newest Decepticon member down the dark hallways of the ship. We passed a few other vehicons on our way, and I noticed that they seemed to be avoiding the large, colorful, former-Autobot who moved through a sea of depressing purples. Finally, we reached the Refuel room, and when I opened the door, I saw a group of vehicons, all with their visors _up_.

Apparently, none of them could see Orion behind me as a vehicon, designated L0U-13, quickly made his way towards me. He was about to say something, but he suddenly stopped and his mouth lay agape.

"O-Orion Pax!" His optics went wide and his mouth lay agape. At his rather loud realization, the others put their masks down. He, however, remained frozen. I quickly reacted and slammed shut his visor for him, earning a muffled yelp from his voice box.

"I apologize for his lack of respect, sir," I said to the now confused mech before leading L0U-13 away and back towards the others. The vehicons scolded him in hushed voices while I subtly watched Orion Pax make his way towards the Refuel machine. With the ex-Autobot gone, I took this opportunity to return to the door and stand by it as I waited for him to finish his cube.

I can understand why the vehicons had their visors up, though. No higher-ups besides Breakdown will take energon from the public Refuel room, as they all had their own private machine in their berthrooms, one that even produces high grade. I wonder why the Prime doesn't just use the one in his private quarters. Maybe, like the map, he wasn't informed of such a thing? I'm thinking too hard about this.

"May I join you?" A voice suddenly asked and I turned to see Orion standing next to me. I didn't have to incline my helm up too much, as he only stood a helm taller than I. Not knowing how to respond, I just nodded and an awkward silence ensued for a moment.

"May I ask why the others all hid their faceplates when I came in?" He asked innocently.

I was stuck. I didn't know how to respond. Obviously, I can't tell him the truth, but what lie do I tell him instead? Perhaps I'll just bend the truth.

"We vehicons hold a strict code amongst ourselves. A code of honor. We hide our faceplates as a show of obedience and unwavering loyalty towards Lord Megatron." He nodded in acknowledgment before taking a sip of his energon with a pondering expression. I prayed that he wouldn't press further. As always, my prayers were ignored.

"And is this 'code' the reason why you all look the same?"

"Yes."

He pondered more as he continued his energon. I looked straight ahead of me at the wall across the room in an attempt not to stare at the curious mech. After a few moments, he abruptly stopped. "My apologies, where are my manners? I hadn't properly introduced myself. My name is Orion Pax. What is yours?"

I stiffened. _He asked for my what?_ I was shocked, to say the least. No higher-up, except Breakdown, of course, had ever asked for a vehicon's name before. Perhaps it's just the Autobot in him? Yet the Autobots weren't known for being the friendliest towards vehicons, especially the fake Prime. So why is he bothering? Perhaps I should humor him, but with what? My serial number or my nickname? After a quick debate, I decided that the latter would lead to fewer questions.

"The others call me Galen."

He _smiled_... _again_. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Galen." A few more moments passed before he finally finished his cube. I nearly sighed in relief. The stares from the other vehicons were starting to become uncomfortable. They had been watching me for the duration of my small talk with the blue and red bot. When Orion left to return his now empty cube, I opened the Refuel room doors and waited for him. He returned swiftly and we finally left the room.

I hope this won't be a regular routine.

* * *

 **Hey look! Orion is here! And he's makin' friends with Galen... I don't have much else to say about this chapter.**

 **Anyway, let me know if you guys are able to tell what each vehicon's name is without me telling you. I'm curious if they're obvious or not.**

 **Have a good day/night!**


	6. Update and Important Note

**Hey guys, it's me! Sorry that this came out late, and it's not even a chapter, but I was working on another chapter of a different story.**

 **Anyway, I'll get straight to the point.** I'm rewriting "A Vehicon's Worth". **I did say I was thinking about it in the previous chapter and I decided it was for the best. Before, I had an idea but not really a story, as in I didn't exactly know where I was going with this whole fanfiction. I'm also not very good (or comfortable) with writing in 1st person. I tried, oh well.**

Here is a list of Changes:

 _\- Written in 3rd Person POV -_

 _\- 5 main characters instead of 1 -_

 _\- Steve is playing as a main character -_

 _\- Use of all 5 Vehicon types from Transformers Prime: The Game -_

 _\- Actual romance between Steve and Starscream (I will try) -_

 **Another thing that I will be doing differently is that I'm actually writing a timeline for this story instead of just winging it. (**Sarcasm: "WoOOOAAAAAH!" **) However, this also means that you will not be seeing any new chapters until after I'm done with the storyline, sorry.**

 **Nevertheless, I want to say thank you to the readers who have been following the story so far. I ask that you be patient with me a bit longer and I will try to get a new chapter out as soon as I can.**

 **Thank you, Happy 2018, and until next time!**


End file.
